Removable flooring-strip.



WLS. MITCHELL.

. REMOVABLE FLOORING STRIP.

APPLICATION FILED D30. 5, 1910.

' T D STATES FATE had to the pipes to vary the connections orImprovements WALTER S. MIETCHELL, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

5 REMOVABLE FLOORING-STRIP.

To all whom it may concern I 7 Be it known that I, WALTER S. MITCHELL,-citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county 01' SanFrancisco and State of California, have invented new and useful inRemovable Flooring- Strips, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to flooring and particularly to a floorstructure, embodying means in combination with a concrete floor forallowing the ready insertion and removal of electric and other wires,and gas, steam or air pipes.

Building regulations of certain municipalities require that electricwires, such as telephone, telegraph, signal and other electricconductors, be soprotected when erected in a building as to prevent theaction of moisture upon the wire. In other words the law requires wiresto be so embedded as to be damp proof, and a simple and ready meanswhereby the wires may be removably erected and easily accessible so astoistring or run them through iron pipes of suitable size is desired.

The object of this invention is to provide means whereby electricconductors may be properly embedded or protectedfrom moisture by runningthem through suitable pipes or tubes removably laid in concrete floors;and to provide means whereby access may be change their direction orlength as 'may be required; and to provide in combination with theconcrete floor a suitable flooringor carpet strip adapted to conceal thewirecontaining pipes and at the same time provide means wherebythefloor" covering, as linoleum, carpet, or rug, may be easily secured uponthe concrete floor.

The invention consists of the parts and the construction and combinationof parts I as hereinafter more fully described and claimed, havingreference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is aperspective view of a frag modified form of the metallic sheeting or'liner and the removable retaining strip. Fig. 3 shows anothermodification of the metallic liner in which one of. its edges isSpecification of Letters Patent. Patented June 18, 1912, Applicationfiled December 5, 1910. Serial No. 525,581.

project over the contiguous wall floor A, channels or mortises 4 and 5;the

channel 4 extending inwardly beneath the lower edge of the baseboard 2so as to form a small' pocket or chamber for therecept-ion of a tube or'pipe 6, through which may be threaded electric conductors 7 which may bebranched or terminated at any suit able point and brought up from thepipe 6 through the base-board, as shown at 8 in Fig. 1, so thatconnections may be made to the conductor 7, or through a strip to, behereinafter described.

The channel or mortise 5 may be made in thecementor concrete floor A ata suitable distance from the channel 4, as the size of the room or otherconditions require, and

-may run parallel therewith or at any angle desired, but inFig. 1, Ihave shown a fragment of flooring adjacent a corner of a room and whichclearly shows the channel 5 as being laid parallel to the vertical wallsof the room.

One or both of the vertical walls of the channels 5 may be formed with aconcavity as 9, of approximately the same contour as the pipe or tube 6,which is to be laid in the channel, so that the vertical walls 9 of thechannels 4 and 5 maybe undercut so as to partially cover tube 6.

For the purpose of securely but removably fastening the wire-conductingtubes 6 in their respective pockets against the walls of the channels, Iemploy suitable strips or fillers 10, of Wood or other material, cut

into convenient lengths or blocks, as blocks 11, having one of theiredges concaved as at 12, so as to form a seat against which the tubes 6may snugly rest and the mean width .of a strip 10 is approximately equalto the distance between the adjacent walls of the concealed tubes'6, andwhen firmly braced into the channels 4 or 5 the strips 10 form I lockingkey or bar holding the tubes immovably in position against theirrespective seats in the channels.

A portion of the strip 10 is'adapted to project beneath the lower edgeof the baseboard 2 any desired distance, and the walls of the floor Aand the bottom edge of the base-board 2 and the concave edge 12 of thestrip 10 form a pocket in which the pipe 6 is entirely concealed.

In order to facilitate a ready removal of the retaining strips or keys10 from their respective channels, the edge opposite to the concavededge 12 may be formed for a portion of its depth at substantially. aright angle as 18, Fig. 3', to the upper plane or surface of the strip,or may be slightly concaved so as to embrace approximately a quarter ofthe tube 6, as shown at 1 1, Fig. 1. In e1ther event the remainder ofthis edge of the strip 10 is beveled back, as at 15, at a suitable angleand. the strip 10 may then be swung upwardly about the pipe or tube 6asla plvot, freely swinging out of the channe Manifestly the channels inthe concrete fioor A may be formed in any suitable man nor, as duringthe original castin of the floor, 1n which event suitable mol s would beinserted to form recesses and afterward removed, or, if desired, I mayemploy in carrying out my invention a suitably shaped metallic trough,one form of which is shown at '16 in Fig. 1, in which the trough has apair of upturned, curved, concave flanges as 17 whereby the'concavedseats 9 may be formed in the concrete during the construction of thefloor, and when this metallic trough is used, it not only facilitatesthe formation of the channels, but also acts as a lining orreinforcement to the cement or concrete, so that when the retainin keyor I strip 10 is forced into position to orce the pipes into theirrespective seats the adjacent overhanging walls of the channels will beprotected.

Manifestly I am varying the form of the metallic lining 16 to conform tovarious conditions, and as shown in Fig. 4, the trough 16 may beprovided at one of its edges with aprojecting, longitudinal rib orflange18 adapted to be passed into a suitably undercut channel or recess 19,in the floor A, and the pipe-receiving portions 17 of theitrough & 16may be made substantially rectangular in cross section toreceivethepipes 6, and

the retaining removable strips 10 press downwardly between the flatportions 20 of the trough to hold the pipes in position.

In Fig. 3 I have added to the trough an outwardly extending flange 21,shown as overlapping the adjacent overhangingwall of the channel 5; inthis .way protecting the wall against fracture.

By providing the wooden strips 10 for which the carpet or linoleum maybe snugly fastened; the finishing strip 21 forming a neat border aroundthe carpet.

The tendencyof the carpetnailed to the strips is to exerta strong pullon them and thus firmly hold them in place in the channels; the edges ofthestrips' are concaved and retained by the pipes and thercby preventedfrom lifting out of the channels when the strip is under the tension ofthe stretched carpet. The carpet must be removed from the strip beforethe latter can be turned or lifted out of the channel.

Having thus describedimy invention, what I claim and desire to secureby. Letters Patent is-- v "1. In a building construction, thecombination with a concrete floor having amort-ise, of a flooring stripinsertible into the mortise, and means to prevent the lifting of thestrip by pressure exerted in an upward direction bya floor covering,said-means includinga conduit lying in the mortise and engaging the edgeof said strip.

, 2. In a building"construction, the combination with a concrete floorhavingamortise, of a flooring strip insertible intothe mortise, andmeans toprevent the lifting of the stripby,pressure exerted in anupward,di-

rection by a floor covering, saidmeans including a conduit lying in themortise, and said strip having a concaved edge to engage the conduit,said strip cooperating withthe walls of the mortise to inclose conduitsfor electric wires or the like.

3. In a building construction, the combination with a concrete floorhaving a mor-.,

tise, of means forming chambers to receive conduits between the walls ofthe mortise,

and a strip with edges conforming to the conduits and serving as a keyto prevent the tension of a nailed covering from lifting the conduitfrom the mortise.

4. In a building construction, thecombination with a floor of concretehaving mortises with undercut walls, of flooring strips adapted to beseated in saidmortises and having undercut edges engaging conduits laidagainst the walls of the mortise.

5. In a building'construction, the combination of a floor of concrete,of flooring strips with grooved edges adapted to be seated in saidmortises, said edges engaging the outer surfaces of conduits laidagainst the Walls of the mortises whereby the strip is locked againstaccidental removal.

6. In a building construction, the combination of a floor of concretehaving a plurality of undercut mortises, of removable conduits restingagainst the Walls of said mortises, and strips for retaining thebeforementioned conduits in their respective positions, said stripshaving undercut edges and one of the conduits engaging one 'of the edgesof the strip to prevent the strip from being lifted by the tension of anattached covering.

7 In combination With a conduit, a flooring strip insertible within amortise and having a concaved edge adapted to rest upon and partiallyinclose the outer Wall of the conduit laid in said mortise.

8. A flooring construction including a cement floor provided with aplurality of channels having undercut side Walls, a suitable reinforcingliner substantially covering the surface of the Walls of the channel,and means for retaining conduits laid along the sides of the reinforcingliner, said means including a flooring strip concaved along one of itsedges to rest upon the inclosed conduit.

9. A floor construction, comprising a cement floor having mortises; aremovable flooring strip having edges fashioned to form in combinationWith the Walls of the mortises, chambers and conduits laid in thechambers, the outer Walls of the conduits and the fashioned edges of theflooring strip interlocking to hold the st-ri in position, and one edgeof the strip bemg beveled to permit said strip to be swung into place inthe mortise In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in thepresence of tWo subscribing witnesses.

IVALTER S. MITCHELL. Witnesses:

CHARLES EDELMAN, D. B. VALENTINE.

